Done deal

This is another example of just how out of touch some people are. It is already a done deal. He will have confirmation hearings scheduled soon, and almost all of the Dems on the SASC have gone on the record as supporting him.

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mattis has only been retired a couple of years. The law requires 7 years. He will need a new law which Dems will oppose. Nomination DOA.

NNSA Labs scores

NNSA sent out annual scores to each lab last week, and LLNL looks pretty good!

401k performance since Nov 8th

1. I realize this isn't strictly about the Labs, but I think it's Lab-related in that I'm sure many blog readers are in a similar financial boat wrt deferred tax retirement investments.
   
   How is your 401K, 403B, etc. doing since November 8? Of course we represent a variety of investment approaches, but in general I would expect people's portfolios to be noticeably up. Mine is not (about 70/30 stock/bond split, fairly conservative but with one slice in a more speculative fund...ALL are a bit down over the last month despite significant gains in all major stock indices in the last month).
   
   Just curious what others in a similar boat are experiencing.
   
   Not particularly interested in Trump/Hillary/transition/LLC/etc. harangues, but empirically that would seem inevitable. I'll ignore and just pay attention to people who answer the question posed, with thanks in advance.

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   AnonymousDecember 7, 2016 at 7:04 PM

   If you are mostly into broad-based domestic funds I don't understand how you could be missing the current rally. If you are heavy into sector funds like precious metals, health care, certain emerging markets, bond funds, then maybe not. Or you could be in actively managed funds that are not keeping up with the major indexes.

Ray Washburne is top candidate for energy secretary??

What?!?!? OMG! Really hope this is a case of fake news. This guy has zero qualifications to run DOE. Zero technical, scientific, engineering... let alone nuclear weapons or military background. Hell, even worthless Hazel O'Leary came out of the energy utility sector.

-----
Ray Washburne is top candidate for energy secretary
CBS News
December 7, 2016

Ray Washburne, a member of President-elect Donald Trump’s finance team and former finance director for Chris Christie, is a top candidate for Mr. Trump’s energy secretary. 

Washburne was vice chairman of the Trump Victory Committee during the general election and was a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). He lives in Dallas and runs an investment company and owns a chain of Mexican restaurants. 

Washburne, significantly, is the only member of Christie’s team that moved into the Trump campaign or transition to have survived the purge. Everyone else has been moved out. 

Washburne was an early and eager fundraiser for Mr. Trump after Christie endorsed Trump and offered assistance to Steve Mnuchin, now the treasury secretary nominee, when he began work as Mr. Trump’s finance chairman. Washburne has close relationships with other big Trump fund-raisers, including Woody Johnson and Tom Barrack. ‎

Washburne and Trump have met frequently and Trump offered praise for Washburne this morning at his New York fund raiser - both back stage to top donors and during his remarks. 

No final decision has been made on Washburne but three sources directly involved in transition deliberations said Washburne is under serious consideration and could be named in the coming days. 
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-ray-washburne-is-top-candidate-for-energy-secretary/

Protect illegal students

UC vows to protect illegal alien students from deportation. Will this policy cause NNSA to bar UC from the next LANL contract ?

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/30/napolitano-uc-will-protect-students-from-trumps-deportation-threats/

Leaked audio reveals additional lewd comments from UC Regent Norman Pattiz

http://www.dailycal.org/2016/11/27/leaked-audio-reveals-additional-lewd-comments-uc-regent-norman-pattiz/

Mattis

Mattis is on the record that the US should change from a nuclear triad to a nuclear diad, and shelve the land based missile leg. If the Senate confirms him as the Secretary of Defense, this might be an area where the national labs get some attention.

December 2, 2016 at 4:03 AM

 

 Anonymous said...

Mattis and Riley Bechtel serve together in California, so not much will change.